History Literature / RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms

** ''Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty'', a take of what ''VideoGame/{{Nioh}}'' did to the UsefulNotes/SengokuPeriod, now applied to the Three Kingdoms era. The premise is if the Three Kingdoms had ''demons'' on top of warfare between men alike. The player is a nameless foot soldier who got a hand on [[MacGuffin the Elixir of Life]] to help them face demons, dating all the way back to the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

* BladeOnAStick: TONS of warriors in the book are decked with such weapons. From the average spears and halberds (the mainstay battlefield equipment of the time) of your average {{Mooks}}, to those big fancy pole-blades used by generals (Zhang Fei's spear with a snake-shaped blade, Lu Bu's halberd, and Xu Huang's [[AnAxeToGrind battle-axe]] to name a few) used by the author as a symbol of each character's personalities and as [[RuleOfCool making action scenes appear more flashy]] to the readers, since most of those weapons didn't even exist at the time. But among these, the most famous would be Guan Yu's "[[NamedWeapon Green Dragon Crescent Blade]]". He's the reason why the Chinese glaive is called the "Guan Dao".

* AbnormalLimbRotationRange: Sima Yi could supposedly turn his head 180° to look behind him.

* In an inversion of SturgeonsLaw, ''Just Another Pandora's Box'', from the director of Creator/StephenChow's ''Chinese Odyssey'' movies, takes a Creator/SeltzerAndFriedberg approach.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: One early editor referred to it as 70% fact and 30% fiction. Luo Guanzhong's sources included not only historical records, but period Chinese operas, poetry and folktales as well. Some of the scenes in the book never really happened, or did not happen as described; Wiki/ThatOtherWiki has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictitious_stories_in_Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms a list.]]

The tale begins in the last days of the corrupt [[UsefulNotes/DynastiesFromShangToQing Han Dynasty]], showing how the government and Emperor lost the "Mandate of Heaven" (天命), and the land fell into anarchy, with various warlords carving out their own territories in a struggle for supremacy. Gradually, out of the chaos, three kingdoms take shape: the kingdom of Shu, led by the virtuous Liu Bei (a distant cousin of the Emperor) and his sworn brothers, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei; the kingdom of Wei, led by the scheming Cao Cao; and the kingdom of Wu, led by the ambitious Sun family. All seek to unify the nation for one reason or another, and claim the right to rule for their own. And so the three kingdoms contend with one another over the century, and heroes rise and fall in the strife, until the nation is finally reunified.

** ''Anime/KoutetsuSangokushi'': With Wu as the main kingdom, and have the CastFullOfPrettyBoys ratio dialled UpToEleven. Main star: Lu Xun (Rikuson).

* The ''Manhua/RavagesOfTime'', a Chinese ''manhua'' which deserves note for taking AlternateCharacterInterpretation, GreyAndGrayMorality and GambitPileup, and ''then'' cranking all of the above UpToEleven. And, of course, throwing in healthy doses of OneManArmy for good measure.

The ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' (Traditional: 三國演義; Simplified: 三国演义; Pinyin: ''Sānguó Yǎnyì'') is a 14th-century Chinese epic novel about the century of war, turmoil, and bloodshed known as the [[UsefulNotes/ThreeKingdomsShuWeiWu Three Kingdoms Period]] (188-280 AD), written by Luo Guanzhong. It is considered one of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Great_Classical_Novels the "Four Great Classical Novels" of Chinese literature]] alongside ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'', ''Literature/WaterMargin'', and ''Literature/DreamOfTheRedChamber'' -- and for good reason. This epic is renowned for its beautiful style, complex and heroic characters, and enduring motifs and themes that remain relevant even in modern society. It not only left its influence throughout the Chinese culture, language, and literature, but also spawned many, many derivative works in various media (some more derivative than others) throughout the world.

* ''Sanguo Zhanji/Sangoku Senki'' (lit. ''Three Kingdoms War Record''), known in the West as ''Knights of Valour'': An RPG-styled beat 'em up series developed by Taiwanese company IGS (International Game System) with mechanics almost as deep as the ''[[VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsChroniclesOfMystara Dungeons & Dragons arcade games]]'' developed by Capcom (with special moves, supers, unique items per character and branching paths). Loosely follows the plot of ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', but later installments have a bit of an extra ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara''-styled feel to the character presentation. Only the second installment's expansion and the spin-off title don't actually use the level up system, [[NoExportForYou while the third installment and its expansion are the only games to never be localized]]. Has a [=PS4=] installment that's fully rendered in 3D and patches in new character releases.

** ''Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty'', a take of what ''VideoGame/{{Nioh}}'' did to the UsefulNotes/SengokuPeriod, now applied to the Three Kingdoms era. The premise is if the Three Kingdoms had ''demons'' on top of warfare between men alike.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: and loads, and loads, and loads and loads, and loads... Wiki/TheOtherWiki lists [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_people_of_the_Three_Kingdoms#Chapter_1 185.]] Compare that to 177 for ''the entire Harry Potter series''.

** Zhang He fought the Yellow Turban Uprising, which began in 184. During Zhuge Liang's fourth Northern Expedition in 231, he decides that Zhang He (fighting for the other side) is too dangerous and must die, and arranges for this to happen. Zhang He must have been close to seventy by then, if not even older.

* {{Flanderization}}: '''EVERYBODY.''' The scary thing is, it's not clear which is more deviant from the historical account: this or ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors''.

* ''Wangzhe Rongyao[=/=]VideoGame/ArenaOfValor'': The former is the original version, a mobile MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena made with Chinese market in mind, thus the roster includes legendary figures from ancient China's history, folklores and mythologies. Obviously, the Three Kingdoms period was included thanks to the novel, and the characters included from there are Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Zhuge Liang, Liu Chan, Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun, Dian Wei, Lady Zhen (Zhenji), Zhou Yu, Lady Sun (Sun Shangxiang), Xiaoqiao (Zhou Yu's wife), Lu Bu and Diao Chan. The latter is the internationalized version of the game where a lot of the Three Kingdoms figure except Lu Bu and Diao Chan got removed (and even the two no longer had their original kits, taking other replaced characters' instead).

-->-- '''''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'''''

** While it's hard to say if anyone was a true villain in history, Cao Cao and the kingdom of Wei end up being cast as the main villains, while the kingdom of Wu is relegated to a secondary position because they're fighting the DesignatedVillain half the time and the DesignatedHero the rest of it.

* ''Wangzhe Rongyao[=/=]VideoGame/ArenaOfValor'': The former is the original version, a mobile MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena made with Chinese market in mind, thus the roster includes legendary figures from ancient China's history, folklores and mythologies. Obviously, the Three Kingdoms period was included thanks to the novel, and the characters included from there are Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Zhuge Liang, Liu Chan, Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun, Dian Wei, Lady Zhen (Zhenji), Zhou Yu, Lady Sun (Sun Shangxiang), Xiaoqiao (Zhou Yu's wife), Lu Bu and Diao Chan. The latter is the internationalized version of the game where a lot of the Three Kingdoms figure except Lu Bu and Diao Chan got removed.

* The upcoming ''Kunio-kun no Sangokushida yo Zen'in Shūgō!'' is a ''VideoGame/KunioKun'' game where characters from that series portray characters from ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' while reenacting events from the story such as the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the Battle of Red Cliffs. Title character Kunio plays the role of UsefulNotes/GuanYu.

* UnfortunateNames:
** Cao Cao's given name consists of a character that, when pronounced slightly differently, is also used to write one of the many Chinese words for "fuck," and is the "grass" of the infamous "grass mud horse" meme. The "mud horse" part just sounds similar to "Your mother."
** Additionally, "Cao" is usually mispronounced as "Cow" by some English speakers, instead of the more correct-sounding "Tsaow". Hence, Cao Cao is referred as "Cow Cow" and his son, Cao Pi, is regrettably referred as "Cow Pee".
** In addition, there are some names that are unfortunate for English speakers, such as [[Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse He Man]], who lasts only two or three paragraphs in Chapter 12. His only line of dialogue: "I am He Man, the devil who shoots across the sky. Who dare fight with me?" (Unfortunately for him, the relatively minor character Cao Hong does, faking retreat before cutting him down.) Note that this name is not [[UsefulNotes/WhyMaoChangedHisName pronounced even remotely like the English]] "He Man", but more like "Huh Mahn".
** In the same vein of He Man, there's also the Wu general Lu Kang, son of Lu Xun. It sounds normal at first, but add one letter, and he may be mistaken as that [[Franchise/MortalKombat turkey-yelling kombatant.]]
** There is also the case of Du Yu, a Jin general near the end of the book, which leads to many a poor joke.[[labelnote:Example]]Du Yu Understand?[[/labelnote]]
** Man Chong, the Wei official responsible for defending Hefei and subsequently many of Sun Quan's failures to conquer it, has the style name, "Boning". Judging from the records of the time, [[DoubleEntendre Man Boning was very popular in Wei]].
** Of course, no list is complete without mentioning the most unfortunate one of all, a very obscure man who served Gongsun Zan: Wang Men.

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', as a part of KOEI Tecmo’s collaboration with Intelligent System and Nintendo. The developers have acknowledged that the game’s similarities of their three main opposing factions plot point started out as coincidental but later on confirmed that the game is made as a partial homage to the literature that inspired ''DynastyWarriors'' franchise.

** This trope applies to Shu-Han as a whole. In the post-Three Kingdoms era, Liu Bei's faction had always been painted as an obstruction to the reunification of China. This perception only changed during the Song Dynasty, when after losing half of the empire to the Northern Jurchens, remnants of the Song government required a political justification to relocate and retain a dynasty in the south. For this purpose, they have chosen Shu-Han as precedent. Thus Liu-Bei's negative aspects were diminished, and eventual heroic status cemented. On the other hand, this meant applying a HistoricalVillainUpgrade for Cao Cao as seen below for usurping the throne from its rightful owner.

* ''Series/ThreeKingdoms'': A Chinese live-action retelling made in 2010, focusing almost equally on Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan. Best known for its greater characterization than the novels.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: One early editor referred to it as 70% fact and 30% fiction, which is a generous estimation: Luo Guanzhong's sources included not only historical records, but period Chinese operas, poetry and folktales as well. Some of the most memorable scenes in the book never really happened, or (at best) could not have happened as described; Wiki/ThatOtherWiki has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictitious_stories_in_Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms a list.]]